On one early hot July morning I jumped in my U-Haul full of stunt gear and set out for Vasquez Rocks, the famous rock formation location that is used in many of Hollywood’s great epic films and TV shows. There, we were to shoot Jim Sonzero’s (Resident Evil 5) latest masterpiece, the Time Warner Lag commercial.

Upon arriving at the gate, I was yelled at by the location lady saying that the park doesn’t open till 7 and there is no waiting, even though it was 5 minutes till 7 am. I heard about her from others and then realized that yes the rumors were true. I made a U-turn and proceeded to drive back to the freeway entrance when I saw the convoy of production trucks coming in. The only thing that went though my mind is that they better slow down–they still have 3 minutes till 7.

Finally after getting through the gates and parking I met up with my fellow actors/stunt team. Dan Southworth (Vergil in DMC3), Chris Jai Cortland (RE5 main Majini), and Anthony Nanakornpanom (RE5 tactical advisor). We scarfed down breakfast and proceeded to wardrobe. Everyone was hesitant to get into wardrobe cuz well…(see pictures).  After applying a bottle of sunscreen on my face (the only part of my body exposed), make up was applied. Jim peaked his head in. “Reuben looks too pretty, I need him more ugly-ed up!” …ummm thanks Jim!

The uglier me!

The even uglier me!

My role in this was stunt coordinator/performer; I helped Jim pick the guys and pretty much my main duty was to help Jim get his vision with choreographing the stunts and then making it safe for the guys performing the stunts. We had a limited budget and time, so it was very Hong Kong or Power Ranger style–something I’m very used too! Dan has also worked a lot in that fashion and helped out with “making it safe!” All the guys knew they were doubling up on stunt and acting duty, so there was no room for diva’s on the set, except for Jim of course!

Bunch of slackers and one Lagger! The Lag cast!

First shot…running!

Second shot…running!

The first shot was running! Wait! The second shot was running too! Come to think of it, there was a whole lot of goddamn running in this commercial! And not just any running…has anyone ever ran in snowboard boots? Has anyone ever ran in snowboard boots in the desert with 100 degree plus temperature while in flight suits and armor? Well I have and it was just like the good old days! lol! In fact the whole time Dan and I were just laughing at each other remembering those good old Power Ranger days when we had to fight in monster suits out in the desert. Really not much different from that…except that we could see a little better…well kinda, still had a patch over one I so I had no depth of perception. See below:

“Suck on this Wesker!” or even better “Let me suck on that Wesker!”

When we got to the jumping shot, the staff laid a big green screen down. Yep! There was actually no canyon (movie magic). We did have to do the jump for real though which was about 12 or 15 feet high. Not so difficult by yourself, but having 4 guys jump at the same time with metal weapons on can be a bit challenging. We tested it one by one at first and then 2 by 2. Finally all of us at once until we all felt comfortable; we ended up doing at least 20 or so jumps. On one of them, because of my dam eye patch, I miss judged the distance and totally under shot my landing which brought me straight to the ground missing the 4 inch pad we had laid out. In mid air I was like “Oh shit this is gonna hurt” but I landed and it was nothing! Wha! …I’m guessing cause of all the cushion in the snowboard boots.

Uhooo! Look at the big whole! …Wow! Movie magic!

After the jumping there was more running–then we broke for lunch!

After lunch there was more running and finally after we ran back and forth for 5 hours we rushed to set up the wires. This was probably one of the fastest rigging jobs I had ever done, not to mention while in full costume and after running at least the equivalent of 5 miles in snowboard boots. An unusual superhuman power comes over you and makes you work like a mad man when the sun is going down. I think this is true for any production. I’d say that for every location shoot 1/3 of the day is shot in the final 15 – 20 minutes of golden time (time where the sun sets). Anyway with the help of my guys we rocked it and got about 6 different wire set ups in like 20 min. I usually hate to do things that way especially cuz wires are dangerous and when rushed that’s when accidents happen, but luckily it all worked out and no one was hurt! Except for Anthony’s weggie!  It doesn’t look like the wire shots made it in the final cut but I hear Jim has a different version that he will show me later. Hopefully there are some wire shots left in there!

Making it safe!

Anthony’s weggie!

Dan’s weggie!

Umm…yeah, uh….making it safe! Yeah! Anthony likes it when I make it safe, don’t ya Anthony? Oohh yeahhh!

All in all it was a long tiring day, but a good day it was! I love challenging myself from time to time to see if I still have it. By “it” i mean the energy and stamina I had during the Power Ranger days. Those were some hard days, hard weeks, hard months.  I’ll always be grateful for my experience on that show, it has prepared me for just about anything. Able to tackle any work situation that is thrown at me and have the confidence to take it on…yeah baby!

Bring it on Jackie Chan!
Bring it on James Cameron!
You too Sonzero!

Cast and some of the (tired, half asleep) crew…and Jim Sonzero!

Anthony has a big bazooka! …That’s what she said

Me and my machine gun!

…Anthony and Dan showing some love after a hard days work…Doesn’t get any better than this boys and girls!

Click here to view the embedded video.

This year’s AX, like last year’s, seemed a little umm “gloom”. Especially after just coming from San Jose’s Fanime. The overall energy just seemed low and dry…(maybe a bit wet if you were in leather or furies…or hung out at any of the hentai panels) Of course there were tons of cosplayers and a huge dealers room but I don’t know… it’s probably just because it’s at the LA Convention Center…but the tone was kinda mellow.

Probably the highlight of the show was were my fellow power ranger pals got together for a panel and signings. It was nice to see that the Power Ranger fans are still supportive and still enjoy the franchise after so many years! Oh and did i mention all the great cosplay?

Awesome!

Getting axed by the Executioner ! lol! I actually did the mo-cap for this guy in the RE5 cut scenes! Great costume!

Ken, Dante, and Ken/Dante! …you know what I mean!

Heard this guy starved himself for a week before the con! I hooked him up with some nan bread so he would take a picture with me!

The Ryu and Ken from Fanime…I love you Zangief!

We some bad mo-fro’s!!! Go team RE:5! …Yeah!!!

The whole gang at the RE5 panel! We did the panel and some signings! The line for the signings ended up wrapping around the hallway and some folks had to wait 2 and half hours…sorry guys!

Dinner with Hiroyuki Yamaga: Tough brief, I got to say hi to Mr. Yamaga, president of Gainax animation studio. I first met him back at Fanime 2007 and drooled over him like the crazy Otaku I am. This time I had him sign my Royal Space Force: Wings of Honneamise soundtrack that I bought way back in high school…drool… I also had him sign my Magical Shopping Arcade Abenobashi box set…more drool!

Charity auction: In addition to the Street Fighter 4 tournament charity auction (see earlier blog post) there was another auction on Sunday that Ric Meyers headed up. Last year we did it together but this year I got swept away by a bunch of fans, got hammered at the bar (sorry Ric) but was barely able to make it in time with a last minute addition of an original Ken Masters print courtesy of Jo Chen!  It went for $90! Woohoo!!!

Free hug line: The whole free hug thing that was taken to a new level with this! A line of people going all the way down the hall.

Free peanut butter and jelly: the RE5 girls enjoy a midnight snack!

Hot Yaoi Nights: I experienced my first viewing of Yaoi Anime this year. I don’t think I could have done it alone…luckily Karen Dyer (Sheva) accompanied me and I didn’t have to go it alone (whew!). It was late and we only stayed for the first show which was from what I hear pretty mild. Still it had it’s awkward moments and the climax at the end was…nuff said.

After a little Yaoi, Karen and I headed to the Hentai room. Though I have had my share of Hentai (oops did I say that?)…it was new to Karen. For the brief time we were there they were showing some raunchy AMV’s that were actually really good! Every couple of minutes someone would yell hand check and everyone had to put their hands in the air, if not you got kicked out! …Keeping it clean! As clean as Hentai can be anyway, Yeah!

Whose Line is it Anime? aka-Fanime Improv: The RE5 team as well as Ric Meyers, Keith Burgess, and Jason Ebner all got together for a round of crazy improv MC’d by Jonathan Osborne. To be honest I was dreading this panel. Hadn’t done improv for a while so was kinda nervous…not to mention the big audience turnout. In the end it was a blast! Some really good stuff from everyone nearly had me pissing my pants. I was even able to discover my soon to be patented Yeah man! …with Ken’s help of course!

Oh…Did I mention Cosplay!?

Of course one of the major highlights was all the cool cosplay. Because of my hectic panel schedule, I could only see so much but there was everything from the complete Resident Evil cast to Bumble Bee!

…more cool cosplay!

…till next year!

Wow! What a day! …Since I was late a day, all my panels from got moved into today and so yeah…it was pretty busy! Did a DMC panel and autograph session but the highlight of the day was the Street Fighter charity auction event where folks bid to play a few rounds with me as Ken Masters. For the most part i got my ass kicked but I did have my moments and either way it was all for-the-cause! …hmmm, where have I heard that before? (www.for-the-cause.com) sorry had to do it! but no seriously something like $600 was raised for the Breast Cancer Foundation. Yeah! Now that’s what I’m talkin’ about!

I was pleasantly surprised when fellow voice actor Keith Burgess who voices Akuma in SF: Alpha came into challenge me! He played as Akuma and of course you know who I was. I was able to hold up winning 2 out of 3 against him but the other NoCal guys…well let’s just say that I need a little more practice! Just wait ’till next year guys! …Bring it on!

The event went down at Stage Zero, as I was leaving I heard the B-Fighter Kabuto theme song…Nice touch guys!

Had quite the turn out!!!

This was the one time I actually won! As you can see I was very excited! The crowd too!

Ken Masters (me) vs Akuma (Keith Burgess) …good times!

(pics curiosity of Tony Chu photography http://www.myspace.com/tonyzg)

Click here to view the embedded video.

http://kotaku.com/photogallery/res5hot/1008037595

Hope to see everyone there!

for a detailed schedule of the panels and events that I will be involved in click here: http://www.fanime.com/schedule.html